How to organise a Military Insight Event

Military Insight Events are ideal for employers wanting to engage Ex-Military Personnel. Sophia Koniarska, OA Business Development Manager, recently ran a webinar on how to make them successful.

Why employ veterans?
Companies that employ Ex-Military Personnel have access to the third largest UK workforce, after Sales Assistants and Care Workers. 16,000 people leave the British Armed Forces every year, and in total there are 2.6 million.

Why run a Military Insight Event?
Military insight events are a great way for companies to demonstrate their leadership and commitment to the Armed Forces community and engage on a practical level with Service Leavers transitioning into Civilian employment.

A Military Insight Event gives veterans the opportunity to demonstrate their business value. 36% of organisations surveyed had skills gaps in areas that former officers perform strongly, including strategic management; managing and motivating staff; team work and communication skills.

Businesses can use the events to showcase the opportunities available to serving and former officers. They can also provide industry insight to help officers in transition choose the right career.

The three planning stages:

Pre Insight Day – decide why, what, when, where and how

On the day – how to maximise the impact for Service Leavers and the Company

Post Insight Day – evaluate the impact, building on the momentum and decide the next steps.

Marketing:

Use a funnel approach – from the 16,000 people leaving the Armed Forces every year decide how to target those you want to attend your event

Webinars – run webinars for veterans about industry insight and opportunities available, and then at the end invite them to the event

Social media – target Service Leavers on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Blogs and articles – write for websites visited by Service Leavers (including the OA) about industry insights, opportunities available, remembering to link them to your event.

Top tips:

Have a clear objective for the event and manage expectations

Engage and plan your marketing early

Be as open and honest as possible with Service Leavers

Learn from other companies

Communicate the impact

Build on the momentum.

For more information, or support, on planning a Military Insight Event email Sophia.

About Sophia
Based in Bristol, Sophia joined the OA in March 2015, focusing on Business Development across the West of England. Sophia has worked in programme management in the private and not for profit sectors. For over three years Sophia ran Business in the Community’s flagship engagement initiative ‘The Prince’s Seeing is Believing Programme’, working with more than 850 companies to drive engagement with senior leadership.